Articulators are well known dental devices which attempt to replicate the movement of the lower jaw relative to the upper jaw about the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) in a patient-specific manner. Plaster models of the patient's upper and lower teeth arches can be mounted to the articulator with respect to its hinge axis in a manner simulating that of the real teeth arches with respect to the patient's TMJ joint. Traditionally, physical impressions of the dental arches are provided, which are then used for casting the plaster models. In addition, a bite impression is obtained with a wax bite plate, which records the relative positions of the upper and lower arches.
A mechanical facebow with a bite fork can be used for obtaining patient-specific measurements which are then used to set up the plaster model in a particular articulator. In particular, the spatial orientation of the patient's maxillary arch with respect to the ear canals is duplicated by the facebow. The facebow is engaged to the ear canals via an ear canal insertion portion. Then, a bite fork with impression material is brought into engagement with the maxillary teeth, and a jig connects the bite fork via its arm to the facebow. The facebow and bite fork combination are then mechanically rigidly coupled to the articulator, such that the ear canal insertion portions are in the corresponding alignment with the pivot axis of the articulator. The plaster models are mounted to the articulator so as to engage and thus match the position of the bite fork, and plaster filling is provided between each plaster model and the respective articulator arm. This is a complicated and time consuming process, and which requires expert handling.
While facebows can be used to facilitate determining the patient-specific measurements needed to accurately place physical models of the patient's teeth into an articulator, there is a need for additional advancements. For example, methods, devices and systems are needed that can increase the speed of acquiring the patient specific measurements during a visit to a dental practitioner and/or provide more accurate measurements for use in mounting physical models to an articulator.